Skywalker
by Redtailedfox
Summary: AU. What if Vader wasn't Luke's father... what if, in fact, there was a far more startling story behind it all...
1. Chapter 1

An Alternate Star Wars. Completely AU. What if Darth Vader wasn't actually Luke's father….

Disclaimer- I do not own Star Wars.

"You killed my Father!" Luke shrieked, one shaking hand gripping the rail that was his only lifeline from the enormous fall that lay below. The other hand was gone, his arm amputated at his wrist. The wound was, fortunately, bloodless, cauterized by the red, lethal blade of Vader's. Vader himself stood above Luke, and the dark, cloaked and masked figure was as unreadable as ever. His breath rasped out, but apart from that, he was silent.

He straightened, and Luke somehow sensed he had come to a decision. "No Luke," he started, "_Obi-Wan_ killed your Father."

Luke's grip on the rail weakened, and his mouth fell open in a comical display of shock. "No…," he murmured, then his eyes bulged, and he screamed, "That's impossible!"

A noise akin to a laugh came from Vader, and he shook his helmeted head. "Search your feelings, Luke," Vader urged.

"Liar!"

"_Obi-Wan_ is the liar!" Vader bellowed, "He has done nothing but deceive you! Out of guilt he had trained you, nothing more. He has led you to your doom." Vader paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was lower, calmer, "But," he began, almost slyly, "I grow weary of the Emperor's rule. If you are of Skywalker's line, you are worthy of much greater things then serving a long gone order. Join me, and we shall rule the galaxy!"

Luke's skin was pale and sickly, his breath short. But he still managed to cry, "I'll never join you," before releasing his grip on the rail, and falling into the darkness below.

Up on the deck, Vader watched as Luke fell. His mask was impassive, but below, his mind was in turmoil. _Skywalker cannot die! _he wanted to scream. He clenched his fists, and searched the Force for Luke. With relief, he found the boy to still be alive, for now. Vader gave the equivalent of a chuckle, "That old fool thought by training you he could make up for his past sins, did he?" Vader murmured, "We'll prove him wrong… my apprentice."


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Thx for the reviews. I'm not looking for a beta right now, but thank you for the offer! Oh, by the by, I got the idea for this when I heard that they hadn't originally planned for Vader to be Luke's father. And then I think someone told me that _Obi-Wan_ was supposed to have killed him, although I remain dubious of that particular fact. Either way, it got me thinking….

Obi-Wan_ killed your Father. _

_Out of guilt he had trained you, nothing more._

Obi-Wan_ is the liar!_

"Luke…? Luke?"

Luke found himself staring into a pair of brown eyes, narrowed in annoyance.

"Hmm?" Luke snapped into reality, leaving the raging turmoil behind him… for now. "I'm sorry, Leia," he apologized, and her face softened. She reached out a hand and stroked his cheek.

"It's fine," she said, smiling slightly. A frown creased her otherwise smooth forehead, but Luke sensed the expression wasn't directed at him. "I can't even begin to imagine what happened to you."

_Not even_ Luke thought grimly. He hadn't yet told Leia about what Vader had said to him in Cloud City, nor anyone else aboard the Falcon. He didn't want to worry them. They had enough to deal with without Luke's problems added to the mix.

Luke shrugged, and avoided Leia's gaze. Out of his peripherals, he saw her frown deepen, but she stood up, removing her hand.

"How's the prosthetic?" she asked.

Luke wiggled his fingers. The movement was smooth and as thoughtless an act as moving his other fingers was. The artificial skin, too, looked and felt nearly as real as the rest of his flesh, and unless he looked closely under the right light, he found he could not tell the difference. "Perfect."

"I'm glad to hear it." Leia shifted awkwardly, then began, "If you want… I can go. I think I might have to do some repairs…."

"Sure," Luke said without looking up. "Go ahead." Displeasure momentarily radiated from Leia, before she bit it back, and exited the room, the door clicking shut behind her. She thought he was being cold, Luke knew, acting like a child. It was as if his senses, especially the ones more supernatural in design, had been extra-sensitive, ever since his fight with Vader. Well, to be more accurate, ever since Vader had divulged the truth behind his father's death.

_No!_ he mentally berated himself _You can't think like that. Vader lied. Who would you rather trust, the man who protected you, taught you, and died for you, or the man who cut your teacher down, murdered for the Empire, and destroyed Leia's planet?_ Luke was chilled to find that he could not honestly say Obi-Wan. Was it paranoia, he wondered, or was it his senses… had Vader been telling the truth? _Of course not_ he scolded himself _Vader was only toying with you. Trying to turn you against Obi-Wan. _

_But for what? _Luke argued with himself _Obi-Wan is dead. There's nothing to turn against now._ "Vader killed my father," he said out loud, trying to convince himself of that fact. _Obi-Wan killed my father_ the rebellious voice in his head murmured.

"Shut up!"

_Luke…._ A soft voice came, seemingly from the air in front of him. Luke started, recognizing this voice as that of Obi-Wan's.

_Good!_ He thought in relief _Obi-Wan can clear this up!_ The traitorous voice in his head was less certain.

"Obi-Wan," he addressed. "Why are you here?"

_Luke…._

"Get to the point, old man!" Luke snarled, suddenly filled with fury. The old bastard would not play him a fool, not _now_ of all times!

_Your anger is most disturbing, Luke._

Luke tried to calm himself, but found that his wrath would not fade. In frustration, he allowed it to stay, and his next words were hard-edged. "Did you kill my father?"

Obi-Wan was silent.

"Answer me!"

Only silence answered him.

His fury and shocked sadness, converted in rage, boiled over his last vestiges of control, and he howled for Obi-Wan to answer him, the air crackling around him. His fisted hands were edged in blue. But Obi-Wan did not answer. He had gone. And Luke was left alone with his despair.


	3. Chapter 3

Wallowing in self-pity, had, Luke reluctantly admitted, some enjoyments, but after a few minutes of the same sorrow, he grew impatient. He reflected on what Obi-Wan had said to him, or, rather what he hadn't said, and his sadness sparked, converting almost instantly into a raw sort of fury.

"You're silence condemned you, _Master_," Luke spat, clenching his fist. He remembered Obi-Wan's kindly, wise face and his anger peaked. _Murder_. He bit his tongue to force back his scream, and tasted blood. A halo of blue wavered in the air around his form for a split second, before vanishing into thin air. His confusion only lasted a second, before thoughts of Obi-Wan's treachery swam back to the forefront of his thoughts, and his anger took center stage. Obi-Wan the teacher… who only taught Luke out of "guilt". Obi-Wan the noble hero… vile murderer. Liar. _Vader_ was the one to tell him the truth!

"In the end, Master," Luke said lowly, digging his nails into his palm, "I suppose it wasn't so much what you did that matters. I never knew my Father; the fact that you killed him is secondary to your real sin." He paused, pain lacing through his arm. Gathering his thoughts, and hoping that Obi-Wan was listening he continued in a menacing hiss, "It was the fact that you lied! If you had only told me! _Vader_ had to tell me! You were a coward, hiding behind lies and deception! You told me Vader killed my Father, knowing I'd be all too willing to believe that, and then… Vader tells me the truth! And you… you…." Momentarily lost for words, Luke breathed in and out deeply, bringing his anger down to a more manageable level. "You didn't even bother denying it, you bastard," Luke finished, slowly releasing his hand.

_Didn't even bother!_ part of him shouted in rage _As if my Father's life… your murder meant nothing! _Luke saw red, and once again, the air crackled with blue energy, as if his fury had been made tangible. Focusing, Luke concentrated on his anger, his hurt, and his hatred of Obi-Wan. His eyes narrowed, and the blue sparked to life. He pushed harder, and the blue intensified, taking the form of something baring a strong resemblance to lightning.

_Beautiful _he found himself thinking, and with that single, pleased thought, his concentration was broken, leaving him alone again in the room, not even his… Force… lightning for company. He was sick of being alone.

Luke exited the room and made his way to the cockpit. Lando was acting as pilot, though at the moment, he didn't seem to be doing much in the way of piloting. He turned as Luke approached. Leia, too, who had been previously standing off to the side, moved forward, a small, pleased smile on her lips.

"Luke," she greeted. Lando nodded at him.

"Leia," he returned, "Lando."

"Glad to see your feeling better," Lando said.

"Thanks. I am." He was, actually. Being with his companions had a relaxing effect on him, and he felt some of his previous wrath evaporate.

Lando nodded, and then glanced at Leia, who shrugged. "Might as well," she said.

"Might as well what?" Luke asked.

Lando sighed deeply. Luke sensed regret in him, along with an uneasy apprehension. "Han's on display at Jabba's."

"So?"

"So," Leia starting, taking over from Lando, "It's going to be pretty hard to break him out."

"We'll probably die," Lando said glumly, then added in a low mutter, "I can't believe I'm doing all this for that dirty…."

Part of Luke wanted to abandon Han. He wouldn't be deeply missed, after all, and his rescue would prove perilous at best. _Han's your friend_ Luke reminded himself. _Besides, they'd never go along with it. Never understand._

_You could _make_ them understand._ That trick… Obi-Wan… had used on the Stormtroopers….

_No! _Luke thought, instantly horrified. _That's wrong._

"We have to try," Leia said, snapping Luke back to reality.

"I agree," Luke said, and both Lando and Leia looked at him.

"Any ideas, _Jedi_?" Lando asked, his tone curious.

"Just one." Luke flashed a savage smile. "We kill Jabba. And anyone else who gets in our way."


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Well, that's a great idea, Blaid, but this is story is sort of going completely AU. Although I'll probably use some of the elements from the prequels, it's not all going to be the same. Like, with Anakin going to the darkside, and the battle at Mustafar. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to have Anakin be evil, but thank you very much for the suggestion! You should totally write your own Star Wars fic! XD And thx for the rest of the reviews, guys!

_Bam! _A laser hit the wall to the side of him, so close that Luke felt the heat sear his cheek. He swore, and shouted over the chaos for Leia. He found her a second later, shooting frantically into the mob of Jabba's guards.

His senses prickled, and he ducked instinctively, a laser narrowly missing him. "Note to self," Luke muttered grimly, dancing aside to avoid another volley of lasers. "_Kill _Boba Fett." He reached for his lightsaber, only to remember that he had lost it, and this time, his dodge was a millisecond to slow. He managed to avoid the full force of the laser bolt, but it stung against him arm, burning away his sleeve and scorching his skin. Luke screamed in pain, and directed his anger outside, blasting through the fighting crowd, and accidently knocking C3PO to the floor. How had this happened exactly?

They had flown directly to Jabba's palace, and disguised themselves as bounty hunters, a "captured" Chewie in tow. While Luke and Leia had distracted Jabba and his guests, Lando had snuck back around, hoping to find Han. He might have… if Luke hadn't grown impatient and revealed him by threatening to blow Jabba sky high. Then… things turned… less then well.

"I probably should have listened to Leia," Luke conceded, "Be less… rash." He dodged out of the way of a sword swinging towards him, and an idea came to him. Using the Force, he grabbed the owner of the sword by the throat, lifting him upright into the air. Making a fist, he squeezed, and the owner (a humanoid alien) went from green to blue, trying to gasp for air. A second later, his head slumped down, unconscious, and Luke released him, pulling the sword into his hand.

"Boba Fett…," he murmured, scanning the crowd, finally catching sight of the helmeted bounty hunter. Anger surged through him, and he leapt forward into the mass. A Twi'lik slave blocked his path, and for a second, he thought about decapitating her, before he fought back the sudden impulse, instead pushing her to the side and resuming his hunt for Fett. The crowd slowed him down, and with a rush of power, he shoved them violently aside, leaving the path to Fett clear.

Fett, realizing as much, fired his blaster at Luke, who leapt upward, flipping through the air. Undeterred, Fett fired as he landed, and Luke dodged out of the way, the last movements setting him off balance. Another laser clipped his shoulder, and he snarled.

Out of some unknown instinct, Luke dropped the sword, letting it clatter to the ground, and thrust his hands forward, blue lightning surging from his fingertips and blasting into Fett. Savage pleasure raced through him when Fett was thrown back. He hit the ground hard, and Luke heard a muffled groan. He felt the briefest glee at the sound, and reclaimed his sword, walking forward, and letting at the unarmored section of Boba's throat.

_Kill him._ The voice in his head whispered. A tempting thought…. Luke drew back, and then jerked.

_What am I thinking?_ He asked _He's down, I should be happy my silly stunt with the lightning didn't kill him._ Disgusted with himself, he threw the sword to the ground, and kicked Boba's blaster away.

Suddenly, Leia screamed, and Luke rushed towards her. There, on the ground in front of her, was Chewie. His eyes were staring, and blood trickled from a wound in his chest.

"What happened?" Luke asked.

Leia seemed on the brink of a mental breakdown, "He… he…."

"Never mind. Where are Lando and Han?"

"I… I…."

"I'll find them myself. Get out of here, Leia."

She nodded quickly, and as she turned, Luke noticed that the left side of her face and neck were splattered with blood. Probably Chewie's.

_What's wrong with me?_ Luke asked as he darted through the crowds. _Something Vader did? Or Obi-Wan?_

_Maybe neither_ the voice in his head suggested _Maybe this is how you've always been, inside. _

_Of course not._

The voice in his head seemed to chuckle.

He spotted Lando, and rushed to him.

"Luke!" Lando shouted, lowering his voice as Luke came closer, "We have to get out of here," Lando hissed urgently, "I found Han, and thawed him, but we were ambushed. Guards took him. I barely managed to escape."

Luke nodded, guilt pouring into him. This mess was all his fault. "Alright," he told Lando, "Let's get out of here. Meet me outside the palace. I'll get Leia, you get C3PO."

Lando frowned, "C3PO's scrap metal, Luke. I saw him. Destroyed."

_It must have been because I pushed him to the ground_ Luke thought, new guilt doubling the old.

"Should I get Chewie instead?"

"Chewie's dead," Luke said bluntly, and Lando's eyes widened.

"We'll both get Leia, then," Lando decided, and they both took off.

Finding Leia was easy enough, they found her stumbling towards the exit, still caked in blood. Her emotions felt unstable, they flickered randomly, and seemed to flare up and then reduce to apathy. Lando took her arm and escorted her to the palace door, which was closed.

Mustering up his energy, Luke paused, and then punched through the door. It dented. Another punch, and then another more, and it blasted outwards. Exhausted, Luke lagged behind as Leia and Lando ran to the Falcon.

Once aboard, Lando busied himself with taking off, jumping into hyperspace as soon as possible. It was only when they came out near Nabbo, did he relax, and turn to Luke.

"I suppose we'll have to try and get Han back another day, huh?"

Luke nodded, but inwardly he was annoyed. Han really was more trouble than he was worth.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke drifted off to sleep that night, and his slumber was deep, but scattered with dreams. Not all of the dreams were his own. It seemed that, unconsciously, Luke stretched out with his Force powers, tapping into the minds of his surviving crewmates. He could feel it when he spied into their dreams. It was a prickling sense at the back of his mind, a strange sort of lucidity that made the dream world even more surreal.

_Leia's dreams were a montage of blood and slow-motion horror. Her mind maliciously repeating the events of the day as if taunting her 'watch and see how your friend died while you did nothing to stop it'. Leia remained frozen in place as Chewie's blood splattered against her face with more and more force, until her entire body was soaked in blood. She cried, her tears cleaning her face, making it wet and salty, but still she cried, and cried and cried and cried and cried…._

_Lando's dreams were more pleasant, if bittersweet. Cloud City took forefront, and his dreams were filled with snapshots and bright memories of beautiful city. They were relaxing and peaceful, and Lando was always involved, his role changing to the scenery. _

_Leia, again, and in this dream she had seemed to have forgotten her previous dream. She was smiling, a slow, seductive smile, as Han trailed kisses down her throat, collarbone, lower…. And then, as if her mind couldn't resist tormenting her, Han's breath crystallized in the air, his body growing pale and cold. He shudder, his movements stiff, stone-like._

"_Leia…." He murmured. The rest of his body was encased in carbonite, which seemed to be steadily making its way up to his neck. _

"_Han?" she asked, her voice tentative. An edge of fear and sorrow, like tears ready to burst into existence laced her words, as she continued, "Han? What's wrong? Tell me what wrong."_

_Han seemed to laugh. "You should know, Leia," he said, his words soft and raspy, "You put me there."_

_The carbonite hardened over his face, covering him completely, his expression frozen into one of cruel humor. _

"_Han!" Leia screamed._

_It was Luke's dreams again, and he was briefly glad. But his relief soon turned into confusion, and then nerves, as he noticed that the setting of his dream was set in shadows, fog providing a gloomy backdrop. He was on some sort of flat rocky surface, the stones jagged and painful under his boots. A lightsaber lay at his hip, and he pulled it to his hand, and then activated it, hoping to provide some additional lighting. No such luck. The emerald glow of his blade beat against the darkness, but not enough to illuminate the surrounding region. The brightness started to hurt his eyes, and he deactivated the weapon, returning it to its former position at his side. He walked forward, slowly, creeping through the fog and dark on silent feet. In the distance, Luke saw the faint, silvery shine of a city, and Luke raced forward, adding speed with the Force. He cleared ground quickly, and the city soon loomed above him. He leapt over the high walls meant to keep out intruders. Landing, he turned and stared in horror. The city had been ravished, destroyed. Fires smoked in windows, broken hovercars littered the understreets. Shattered glass and ruined buildings was all there was to see in the city. And the denizens lay around him. Most were dead. Burned, strangled, broken or electrocuted. Some were decapitated, and many were missing parts, although this work looked clean and bloodless. Luke stared in horror, and started as a voice called to him. _

"_You!"_

_Luke turned. A young woman, human, with brown hair and green eyes. She would have looked fairly pretty, if not for the dirt and grime, mixed with blood streaked across her face, and her missing hand. A there was a stab wound in her stomach, but her eyes were fierce. Luke walked over. _

"_What is it?" he asked, feeling helpless. "How can I help you?"_

_She gave a sick attempt at a laugh. "You? You can do nothing."_

"_What do you mean?" Luke asked, his panic rising, "Surely I can do something?"_

_She glared at him, her eyes burning with an intense loathing. "Don't you see you pathetic bastard?" she spat, venom dripping from her words, "You've caused this!"_

"_No. That can't be. You're wrong. I've never even been here. I can't have done this."_

"_No," she agreed, "Not yet." And then she slumped forward, silent, eyes open and staring._

_Luke screamed his horror into the night._

He awoke in his bed, drenched in sweat, his scream still echoing around him.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. What do you think Luke's dreams mean? XD

He had tried to fall asleep again, to varying degrees of success. He never quite managed to completely drift off into dreamlessness or slumber, but a thin, colorful blanket of sleep occasionally brushed against his mind. He embraced it when it came, but soon learned that it was a subtle art. If he were to concentrate to hard on falling asleep, he would gradually became more awake, and likewise, if he relaxed his body and let the fog wash over him, he would eventually be assaulted by the images from his past dream, becoming ever more vivid in the dark. And space was always dark. Tatooine hadn't been. It had been a warm planet, its twin suns making sure of that. Unbearably hot, often, but Luke preferred the heat, even the sweltering, brutal heat, to the cold darkness of space. Heat was easy. Cold was cruel.

He found he hated the cold, but right now, on the sleepy brink of dreams, hate seemed an abstract idea, hard to feel. He let himself slip away into the dreamworld, and sensed that this time he might be able to actually sleep 'til morning. He hoped that the dreams of the ruined city, and the angry girl with the missing hand and contorted expression.

He didn't dream of the city, but he did dream again of the girl.

_She was whole and clean, and he had been right, she was very pretty. Her brown hair shone slightly in the sunlight of a planet that could have been Alderaan, before it had been destroyed, or perhaps Naboo. Her eyes, green and shining seemed to smile, and her lips moved, mouthing soundless words. The setting changed, and they were on Coruscant, the streets out of character, and devoid of life. The sky was gray and the huge buildings seemed looming and threatening above them. Her ghostly smile was no more, her expression was once again baleful, and her emerald eyes reflected a hate that Luke found he envied. _

_The scene changed again, and he was back on Cloud City, Vader above him, as he grasped the rail with one hand. Only Luke's other hand was intact- rather, a prosthetic, and his clothes were the same he had worn before falling asleep, not the ones he had donned on Cloud City. _

_Vader's breath rasped out, before he said, "Hatred. It feels good, doesn't it?" He didn't wait for a reply, and Luke wasn't about to give him one. He continued, "It's easy, simple. With hatred, you can ignore guilt, ignore pain and suffering- yours and others. It's an easy way to live, unless, of course, your hatred finally fades away. And then all those suppressed emotions, they will come back tenfold, I've seen it."_

"_Why are you telling me this?" Luke snapped, his breath short. It was becoming harder to hold on to the rail, and he didn't want to risk falling to grab it with his other hand._

"_A warning."_

"_I don't follow." Luke allowed a snarl of impatience and anger to enter his voice, and though he couldn't see Vader's face, he was confident that behind his black mask, he was smiling._

"_When I told you the truth behind your Father's death, you were shocked into hatred. You blazed like a firework through the Force, filled with power. But I sense that your hatred is fading. Soon you will be weak again, and worse than that, with the recent deaths of your friends on-"_

"_Shut up!" Luke screamed, suddenly furious. How did Vader know? And how dare he try to wound him with that knowledge? "It wasn't my fault!"_

"_Wasn't it?"_

"_Maybe I don't care if it was!" Instantly, Luke felt awful, the lie stinging. Once again, he felt sure that Vader was smiling._

"_Of course you do. See, your hatred is already beginning to fade."_

_No! Luke was ashamed with himself for the feeling, but he desperately craved the hot hatred that seemed to be his sole friend in the universe. "What do I do?" he begged, pushing away shame with those words that he feared condemned him._

"_Soon you will see." Vader's breath rasped out, pacing the seconds. He reached out his hand, as he had done once before on Cloud City. Only, this time, Luke grabbed it, and allowed Vader to pull him to safety. He knelt before the dark figure._

"_My apprentice," Vader hissed._

_He raised his head to look into Vader's mask, still unreadable and expressionless. "My master." _

Luke awoke, the sounds of Lando and Leia altering him of morning. Happiness flushed through him, and he remembered the dreams of the girl and the dream of Vader that he was now sure had not been a dream, but a message sent from the murderer himself.

"_My master."_

Luke smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

Luke stared at himself in the mirror. Outwardly, he noticed no change in his appearance that would cue Lando or Leia off. However, he could sense a slight flickering below the skin. Perhaps a difference in expression or an almost unnoticeable gleam in his eyes that seemed to shift colors ever so slightly in the right light, at the right angle. He cocked his head curiously, examining his eyes. He twisted his head around a few degrees, and the same odd glint reflected off his eyes again. Luke frowned, touching his lower eyelid. Using the Force, he tried to project a film of normal blue over his eyes. He could see no noticeable difference, but he could feel it working through the Force, and assumed Leia and Lando would be appropriately fooled. He wondered how long he could hold up his disguise. It took a fair amount of concentration, and the effort was taxing.

"I'm being paranoid," he murmured to himself, "They won't be able to tell the difference anyway, and even if they do- how will they make the connection to…." He couldn't bring himself to complete the sentence, and instead trailed off and dropped his illusion. He shook his hair out so that it shadowed his eyes, and tried with minimal success to quench the rising sensation of anxiety. He raised his hand and summoned the blue sparks. For a second they danced around his fingers, before he quickly made a fist, and they dissipated into the air.

Luke walked out of the room and towards the cockpit. He was late. Both Leia and Lando stared up at him as he entered, and he sensed a type of reproach in both of them, and he automatically tensed, waiting for the accusations of betrayal and threats of violence. He stood stock still for a second, before realizing that their irritation, it was only that, not fury or hatred was only aimed at his lateness.

"Sorry," he mumbled as a weak apology, taking a seat besides Lando, the farthest away from broken Leia. Her mismatched emotions and trembling sadness were the last he wanted to feel today. His guilt, too, would be sure to make an untimely reappearance if he did.

Lando glanced sideways at Luke, and asked, "What took so long? Nice dreams?" Lando smirked slightly, and though the expression seemed to be teasing, Luke couldn't help the adrenaline that suddenly raced through his bloodstream. His heart pumped faster in his chest, and he forced a smile.

"Yeah, something like that, I guess."

Lando nodded, and returned to the ship's controls.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked.

"Coruscant," Lando replied.

"Coruscant?" Luke repeated numbly, thinking _The Empire's territory. Do they know?_

_If they do, you could always make them forget. _

_How silly._

_How can you mind, after what you've done? _the voice in his mind snarled.

_I haven't done anything to hurt them. Not intentionally. Whatever I've become, they are still my friends. _

_And when they don't consider you_ theirs_? Then what? Are you willing to let them kill you?_

_I won't hurt them. _

_You won't! _The voice in his head shouted at him, frustrated, and then becoming sly and sweet, _You won't have to hurt them. Just make them yours. Forever. Explain to them what you did, and then… persuade… them to see things your way. No pain. No hurt. _

_No._

"-I know, I know, it's a pretty risky place to be," Lando was saying, and Luke snapped to attention, "But I know a guy with some contacts. Name's Nies. Knows a lot of people."

"And you're thinking he could help us get Han back?" Leia interrupted excitedly.

Amusement flickered through Lando, but his next words were sincere, "That's right."

"Let's go then!" Leia cried, pure joy blazing through the Force. It was a beautiful, tantalizing emotion, but when Luke searched for its root, he found an unstable, dark root.

"Don't get your hopes up," he warned her, fighting back the urge to calm her with the Force.

Lando nodded, "I agree," he said seriously, and Luke felt Leia's mood dim slightly. She slumped back into her seat. "Even if this works flawlessly, it'll just be the first step to getting Han back. It'll take work, Leia."

"I understand," she murmured.

"Hold on," Lando said.

Luke gripped the edge of his seat as the Falcon jumped into hyperspace. His heart pounded a mile a minute, and his legs felt jittery and hot. When they reached Coruscant, space popping back into place, he relaxed against his seat, letting out a giant breath of air. Lando chuckled.

"That's not even the best part."

Luke glared at him, daring him not to elaborate further.

"I know a few routes that'll take us around the Imperial's," Lando said, but then added, "It's not exactly fail-safe, so remember… we'll… at that point there's really not much you can do."

And on that rather gloomy note, Lando turned the ship and speed towards the planet. Although Luke's eyes were squeezed shut for the majority of the ride, he could feel the ship zigzag back and forth, and Lando's laughter with every sudden twist and turn. Leia's emotions switched from sheer terror to a nonchalant apathy that Luke found himself bitterly envying. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lando let out a low, relieved sigh, and the ship slowed to a stop.

Luke opened his eyes, and Lando grinned at him. "That went nicely."

"So it worked?"

"Yeah," Lando smiled, before frowning slightly, getting out of his seat, and making his way to the exit. Luke followed, tugging Leia's arm, pulling her up. She pulled her arm away from him as if burned, and glared balefully at him, hurrying to follow Lando out of the ship. Luke jogged to catch up, and the sight of the Coruscant skyline made him momentarily breathless.

"Wow," he breathed, the sight of millions of ships speeding through the air, and giant buildings taking his breath away.

Lando came up behind him, and whispered, "Luke?" 

"Yeah?"

Lando took his arm, and led his a few paces away. "I don't really want to say this, but the way we managed to evade the Imperials… well, it was almost too well done. I'm beginning to think that we were allowed to enter Coruscant. But why?"

A prickling of unease stirred in Luke's stomach, he thought he knew exactly why they were let in. "I don't know," he lied.

Lando nodded, and then shrugged, "Probably just paranoid," he laughed, nearly echoing what Luke had said to himself that morning.

"Right." Eager to change the subject, Luke asked, "Where's that Nies person you were telling us about earlier?"

Lando led them through the underbelly of Coruscant expertly, showing them through shortcut after shortcut, not one white-armored stormtrooper in sight, until they finally arrived at the entrance of a run-down, shadowed shop. Lando banged on the door. After a few seconds of silence, it creaked open, and a feminine, human figure greeted them with a blaster pointed at Lando's head.

Lando grinned, "Hey, Nies."

Nies flashed a smile, and lowered the blaster. "Sorry, Lando. A way away from Cloud City, huh? Come on in, you and your friends, too."

"Thanks."

Lando entered, Luke and Leia following. Nies flicked on the lights, and Luke's eyes burned for a second, before clearing and adjusting to the new brightness. He stared at Nies in shock. There was no question about it. From her face and green eyes, to her brown hair. She was the girl from his dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. What do you guys want to happen to Luke? Do you like the darker Luke, or the nicer one that sometimes peeps through?

The shop was quiet at night. There were no unexpected customers, bringing in the noise of the city in with them, or Nies torching one of her countless antique weapons, trying to rid it of some microscopic imperfection. Nies, Luke had quickly learned, was a bit of a perfectionist. Her thoughts were always slightly anxious, going back and forth in tight little loops. But at night, when the noise had trickled to a stop, and silence was the only sound in what seemed like miles, when the darkened corners of the store, low lights from the city bouncing off steel and broken jewel-like things, the shop seemed to possess a type of haunted, ethereal beauty. Luke wandered through the store, admiring the delicate lines of the old, non-functional blasters that adorned the left wall, and the powerless vibroblades that decorated the other. The blades on the right wall ranged in size and shape, some deviating so far from the traditional mold of the weapons that, if Luke had been presented with one at random, he would have had trouble deciding exactly what it was.

The far-off city lights bounced off a shiny, silvery weapon tucked behind a stack of papers. Luke drew closer, recognizing the papers and the desk that held them up as those belonging to Nies. Her torch was nearby, carelessly resting besides a worn blaster. The weapon, Luke could tell it was elegant in design, and cylindrical in shape, glinted again in the light, and Luke inched forward. He reached his hand toward it, possessed by an almost dazed need, and-

"Hey!" Nies' voice rang out, piercing the quiet and Luke's dreaminess. He started, and yanked his hand back.

Nies turned on the lights, and they scorched Luke's eyes. They adjusted, and when he managed to open them again, Nies was standing directly in front of him, her hands on her hips. Her eyes flashed, perhaps with anger, and she asked "What are you looking for? Nothing much over here, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry," Luke apologized, genuinely embarrassed by his actions, "I was just…" he trailed off, trying to think of words to explain it, "Looking at… anyway… so… the weapon, it was… sorry," he completed weakly, his cheeks heating.

The emotion visible in Nies' eyes was not anger now, but amusement. "It's fine," she laughed, reaching for the weapon, and pulling it out to show him. It was a long weapon, dotted with buttons and a black grip. Obviously it had once been prized by its owner; it had clearly been well-taken care of, though just as clearly old. And Luke recognized it.

"It's a lightsaber!" he gasped.

Nies' eyes widened. "That's right," she said, adding, "I'm surprised you knew that, Luke. Not many people do."

Luke smiled at her. "Can I see it?" he asked.

"Sure," Nies said, tossing it to him, "Be careful. I fitted it with a crystal, so try to avoid placing the open end next to any extremities."

Luke nodded, and flicked open the blade. With a beautiful hiss of air, the colored blade rushed to the surface, snapping to life in front of him. It was blue. Not the same blue blade he had had before, but a different shade of blue. An electric, brilliant color that reminded him pleasantly of his own Force lightening.

"Nice, right?" Nies asked.

"Yes," Luke agreed, sighing slightly, turning the weapon to the side to examine it more thoroughly. A few more twists, then he deactivated the blade. Nies reached her hand out, a wry smile on her lips.

"Playtime's over, Luke," she said, "I sort of need that back. It's my project right now. So hand it over." She still seemed amused, there was no suspicion in her thoughts, only teasing. Luke detested it.

And he wanted that lightsaber. It was his. "No," he said calmly, the voice in his head screaming with glee. "No," he repeated, a small little smile fixed to his face.

"What?" Nies asked, forcing a little laugh. Her thoughts were coloring with confusion, and pretty sorts of fear.

"I said," Luke began slowly, "I'm not going to give this back to you. I'm keeping it." He returned his voice to a normal pace, explaining, "I like it, you see. I want it for myself."

"Luke," Nies began, a note of threat in her tone, "You better be joking."

"I'm not." Luke twirled the blade around, relishing the smooth feel of it beneath his fingertips. Like ice, rather than metal.

"You can't imagine I'm going to let you take it." A real threat. Luke grinned in anticipation.

"Oh yes you are, sweet Nies," he said, and she flinched when he said her name. He made eye contact with her, and said, slowly and deliberately, forcing his wants onto her, "You are going to let me keep it. You will not complain, you will not even remember that it was ever yours. You will forget this encounter the moment I stop speaking." He smiled, and Nies' gaze became sleepy, then suddenly alert.

"I'm sorry," she said politely, "I must have… sleepwalked, I suppose."

"No problem," Luke returned warmly, "I'm sure your just tired. It's very late. You should get some rest."

She nodded, turning around. "I like your weapon," she called over her shoulder, a slight yawn in her voice. "Lightsaber, right?" 

"Right," Luke smiled, as she walked out of the store, back towards her living quarters, flicking off the lights behind her, as she made her way into the hallway.

Luke's smile widened, and his eyes prickled. He turned back on the lights and examined his reflection in a sheet of smooth silver metal. The color in his eyes was slightly off again, less blue then it was another shade, hard to quite make out. He shrugged, and turned off the lights again, tossing his lightsaber between his hands.

A familiar presence brushed against his mind in the Force, and he recognized it. "Master," he said out loud, knowing Vader would hear him.

"_My Apprentice,"_ Vader replied, _"How does it feel? Harnessing the Force for personal gain?"_

"It's easier than I thought it would be," Luke admitted, twirling his blade around.

"_That's only the beginning," _Vader hissed, _"When you tap into the energies of the Dark Side… then you will taste true power. The power that has been withheld from you by the people you once called 'Master'."_

"Tell me how."

"_I cannot. But I do not doubt that you will be able to achieve that on your own. Once you do, however, I can begin to train you." _

Vader faded away, and Luke was filled with a violent hunger. "Power," he growled, "I think I'll like that."


	9. Chapter 9

Nies smiled sweetly at Luke. Her emotions sung like birdsong, and they whispered of innocent desire. Luke wondered if that was a side effect of the hypnosis. But, no, he eventually decided. She just liked him. Odd. It might get annoyance, and Luke briefly tensed, before remembering that he had controlled her mind once before- it would be no hard feat to do it again. Of course, changing emotions would undoubtedly be a more difficult task then affecting memories, perhaps even impossible.

But he could always kill her.

Luke smiled back at her.

It was later in the day, and Lando and Leia were waiting, tense but eager, for Nies' return. She had gone to communicate with some contacts about Han, and she had told them to expect her late. However, that had been in the morning. It was quickly inching towards night.

When the sky was a blanket of black, Nies finally arrived back at her shop. She came through the door, letting it shut gently behind her. One look at her haunted, tired face, and Leia instantly burst into loud sobs, tears streaming down her face.

"What is it?" Lando asked softly, and Nies shrugged.

"He's been killed as a traitor," she informed him flatly, and Lando recoiled in shock. Leia's sobs intensified.

"Please," she begged through her tears, her emotions a shrill scream in the Force, tearing into Luke. "Please tell me you're lying. Please!" she yelled. "Please!"

She began to mumble incoherently, and Lando moved to comfort her. His sadness was potent, but far more controlled then Leia's, he had accepted it as a possibility, and steeled himself against the likelihood, but his friend was still dead. And it was starting to sink in. Luke idly wondered how long it would take before _Lando_ started to cry, and the image was so ridiculous that Luke almost laughed. But it really wasn't funny. Han was dead, and his friends were broken, possibly beyond repair.

But he could fix it.

A part of him rebelled, but that part was weak. Luke did not want broken, sobbing companions. He also didn't want them to suffer.

He called on the Force, and moved towards Lando and Leia, pulling them gently apart.

"Lando," he addressed, and Lando stared at him, his expression curious, his eyes moist.

"Luke?"

"I want you to forget everything about Han Solo," he murmured in a silky purr, "I want you to forget all the times you meet him, the way he was captured, and the message of his murder."

"I will forget Han Solo," Lando intoned, his eyes glassing over.

Luke smiled. "That's good," he complimented, then moved onto Leia.

"Leia," he said, and she turned her face up to him, meeting his gaze blankly.

"I want you to forget everything about Han Solo," he said lowly, in the same voice he had used on Lando, his words dripping with the Force, "I want you to forget all the times you meet him, the way he was captured, and the message of his murder."

Leia sighed, the tears in her eyes drying, her emotions becoming dazed, then more stable. "I will forget Han Solo," she stated in a monotone.

"Very nice," Luke said, feeling inexplicably tender.

"What did you do?" A shaky voice demanded.

Luke turned, and Nies stood in front of him, a blaster held in her hands. Her eyes were wide and scared, but even as he watched, began to narrow with a cold, baleful anger, the same kind he had seen in his dreams.

Luke gave a cruel smile, drawing his lightsaber into his hand. He flicked it on, its sapphire blade illuminating the store.

He could make her forget, too.

But he didn't want to.

Because he realized one thing.

He hated her.

"I hate you," he snarled, preparing to strike.

Realizing this, Nies raised her blaster and fired at him, but Luke deflected the shots. He leapt into the air, and landed in front of her, his arm moving in a quick, powerful line, lightsaber tearing through the air. He neatly decapitated her, her head thudding to the ground, her body following suit, crumpling gracelessly.

He closed his lightsaber. He caught his reflection in a pane of glass, and his eyes were bright yellow.


	10. Chapter 10

A.N. Thx for the comments! Leia isn't a Jedi, she does have Force potential, but she has never had any actual training, so if she does have any Force resistance, she probably doesn't right now.

"Luke?"

Luke started. "Leia?" he asked warily, turning to face her.

"Luke…," she trailed of, confusion flickering through the Force and across her face. She locked eyes with him, frowning slightly. "What happened? Your eyes…."

Luke twitched, his hands automatically coming up to shade his eyes, surprised she could see its off color in the darkened room. "What is it?" he asked her nervously, waiting for the accusations to come.

But Leia merely shrugged, "The color… it… changed." She paused, and rubbed her forehead, "Maybe I'm just tired," she suggested to no one in particular.

Luke dropped his hand and gave her a small grin. "Go to bed," he said, reinforcing the suggestion with the Force, and she gave a sleepy smile.

"I'm going to go to bed," she stated blankly, turning around and marching off to the hallway. Luke sighed. This really was too easy. Although he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. He certainly couldn't manipulate their emotions each time they grew suspicious- his earlier command had taken quite a bit of energy and he was starting to feel rather drowsy himself. His body felt depleted, hungry for the energy that it had lost, needing sleep or rest to replenish it.

"Luke?"

Luke groaned. "Hello, Lando," he said tiredly. "Go to bed, Lando," he said, the last of his energy leaving him in a burst of Force power.

"Right," Lando yawned, turning around and exiting the room.

Luke yawned himself, and scanned the room, coming to the headless figure of Nies. "What are we going to do with you?" he murmured.

Dragging her body out of the shop had been no easy task- especially with Luke's sudden lack of energy. It had been even harder to pull her through the backstreets and deposit her body (and head) behind a run-down speeder bike. Luke tried to summon the Force-lightning in an attempt to blow up the bike- thus damaging her body beyond recognition, but he was so completely drained that he couldn't even conjure up a single spark.

Luke moaned, and examined the site. The body was adequately covered, but if someone came for the bike she would soon be found. Luke finally decided that this was about as good as he could manage at the moment and turned to walk back to the shop, only to be blocked by a shimmering, blue figure.

Even in the state of extreme tiredness that had taken him over, Luke still recognized the face of his former master. "Obi-Wan," he spat.

Obi-Wan's face was set in lines of displeasure, and his otherwise neutral tone was edged in anger. "Luke," he said.

"What do you want?"

Obi-Wan wasted no time on niceties. "You have corrupted yourself, Luke," he said coldly, "You have allowed your anger to transform you into something I no longer recognize."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Master," Luke said sarcastically. "Are you here to lecture me?"

Obi-Wan's face twisted in contempt. "I am no longer your Master," he said.

"No, you aren't," Luke agreed, "Vader is. Did you know that?"

"I did not," Obi-Wan admitted, "Though I cannot say it surprises me."

Luke's eyes burned like yellow flames, and he growled, "Why is that, exactly?"

"I expect that you were drawn to him because he was my enemy, and you considered me yours."

Luke shook his head. "You killed my father," he said in an icy tone.

"But that is not what drives you anymore, is it?" Obi-Wan asked, "I can see from your eyes that you have embraced something darker then vengeance."

"What is that, then?"

"The path of the Sith. But it is not too late, Luke!" Obi-Wan said, suddenly urgent, "You have time to change! You need not continue the same way Vader did! I've watched one apprentice turn to the Dark Side, I will not watch another!"

"You are not my Master," Luke said quietly, "And I am no longer your apprentice, you said it yourself. Besides, Obi-Wan, you were the one who set me on this path."

Obi-Wan seemed to crumple. "Maybe," he conceded, "But you do not know all the facts Luke. I may have killed your Father, yes, but that was not all there was to it."

"No?"

"No! Luke, when Vader- though I knew him by another name, then- began to turn to the Dark Side, I tried to find a way to stop it. I thought I could make him see sense. But I realized it was impossible. Vader killed many Jedi, and I committed myself to the task of killing him. But Vader had set a trap. He had placed your father, Anakin, once Vader's friend, where I was tricked into thinking Vader was. I did not stop to consider the ease at which I thought I had found him. I merely attacked. I killed your father, but Vader was the one to really murder him. Luke, please understand."

Luke's eyes widened. "That's how it happened, then," he whispered, "I should have known you weren't a cold-blooded killer, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan seemed to relax, his eyes shining, "Yes, Luke! I am sorry for what I did, truly, sorry, but now you know all the real truth."

"Yes, I suppose I do," Luke said grimly. He sighed, and then allowed his face to break into a sinister smile. "But you were right, Obi-Wan! My father's murder stopped affecting me for quite some time. I don't care if your intentions were noble. The Jedi way no longer interests me. I feel nothing but hate towards you, and I fully intend to become a Sith. I thank you for your honesty." Luke grinned at Obi-Wan, watching as his face reflected horror, then sadness.

Obi-Wan shook his head slightly, and then disappeared, and Luke began to laugh.

_Very good, Luke._ Came a familiar voice.

"Vader," Luke greeted. "Master."

_My apprentice _Vader returned _You have impressed me. I think you are more than ready to begin your training._

"Thank you," Luke breathed. "What do you want me to do?"

_I have a mission for you, but you are in no state to complete it now. Replenish your energy, Luke, I will be in touch…. _


	11. Chapter 11

A.N. Do you think Luke is going to turn completely to the dark side? XD

The journey back to Nies' store was next to unbearable, but Luke managed to find solace in Vader's message. He was on the path to _real _power, not that Jedi mumbo-jumbo. The joy that came with that thought was dizzying; Luke felt his mouth twist into an irresistible smile despite his exhaustion. He wondered what mission Vader had in mind, and felt his mood sink slightly. Whatever it was, it certainly would be easy- it would undoubtedly challenge him both physically and emotionally. There would probably be casualties, too, and the thought of murdering another sent chills up his spine, though he wasn't quite sure whether they were chills of pleased anticipation or horror. He shrugged, and continued to make his way to the store.

Five minutes later, and nearly out of breath, Luke arrived at the door and reached of the doorknob, only to have the door ripped open from the inside. Luke looked up in surprise to find Leia greeting him with a wrathful expression and a blaster pointing between his eyes.

"What is this?" he asked, reaching out in the Force and trying to find a foothold in her mind, only to slip backwards into his own mind. Her emotions were distant and unreachable to him in his tiredness, but judging by the look on her face, they were not kind.

"Don't try that again," she warned him, a low hiss in her voice, "Or I will kill you right now, Luke, brother or no."

"What did you say?" Perhaps he was hallucinating.

"Obi-Wan didn't tell you?" she asked in mock-disbelief. "We're _twins_, Luke."

Luke paused, frozen to the spot. "Twins?" he asked, and then realizing what else she had said, sputtered: "_Obi-Wan_? What else did that old bastard tell you?"

"Enough," she said simply. Her words were calm, but her eyes still shone with anger. "He helped me realize who I am. And he helped me remember what you did to me. You tampered with my mind! You tried to make me forget Han!"

"Han's dead, Leia!" Luke shouted, "I was trying to protect you! If you remember that, do you remember how you were before I took away your pain? You were unstable, insane! I _fixed_ you, Leia."

She shook the blaster threateningly. "Shut up," she said, "You made me forget. I will never forgive you for that."

Luke bared his teeth.

"I'm going to Yoda," she continued, "And train to be the Jedi you were to weak and selfish to be, Luke." She lowered the blaster a fraction of a degree, and locked eyes with him. "And I will give you fair warning, as your sister," she said, her voice as hard and cold as steel, "Don't stand with Vader. I'm going to take him down, and the Empire, and if you're in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you." She lowered the blaster. "I'm leaving, with Lando," she told him, "You can stay here, in the home of the girl you killed, if you'd like, but I hope you will remember what I've told you."

Luke opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Leia's hand, the one holding the blaster, whipped up. She fired once, and the impact threw him back into the street.

"You should be grateful it was set on stun," Leia told him, her voice seeming to come from a great distance. Faint footsteps sounded in front of him, and then he felt a numb pressure on his legs as Leia dragged him inside. "Goodbye, Luke," she said, and then he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness.

When he woke pale, morning light streamed through the windows, and he sensed he was all alone.


	12. Chapter 12

A.N. Do you prefer good Luke, or evil Luke? XD

The first thing Luke noticed after he sensed that he was by himself was the return of his powers. He stood up and stretched his muscles rested and strong. Sleep, it seemed, whether forced or self-induced, had, indeed, restored his Force abilities. His senses buzzed at the back of his mind, as if waiting giddily to be used.

And he would use them.

When he killed Leia.

Immediately after that thought he flinched back, denying it. He wouldn't kill Leia! She was his friend, his sister.

_A sister who betrayed you to Obi-Wan. And a friend no longer_ the dark voice in him thought cruelly.

"She's mistaken, confused," Luke told himself hotly, "She'll see sense, I'm sure of it."

_And if she doesn't?_ the dark voice asked in a silky purr, showing him images of Leia's face, contorted in fury, her hands wrapped around a lit lightsaber, ready to attack. The images changed, and he was the one holding the lightsaber, a cold smile on his lips, Leia's body on the ground beneath him, her head separated from her neck.

Luke pressed his hands to his forehead, trying to push the images away. "I will not hurt Leia," he growled.

_You have already hurt her_ the voice laughed, and he clenched his jaw, and thought of other things.

_I'm rested and my powers have returned_ he thought _and that mean's Vader's going to contact me anytime._

The mission, whatever that was awaited. Once again, he considered what it might be. Would Vader have him carry out a massacre? Find or retrieve some object of Sith value? Betray his former Rebel comrades? That thought excited him most of all. If Vader sent him to do just that he would certainly relish the looks of shock and disbelief on their faces. An amused sound caught in his throat- a mixture of a laugh and a snort.

"Is that what you have planned for me, Master?" he wondered out loud, "To have me kill the Rebels who I once thought of as friends?"

Though Luke was not expecting an answer, he received one anyway. Vader's raspy, deep voice resonated in his mind as he said: _No Luke. An intriguing idea, perhaps, but that is not what I have planned for you._

"What it is, Master?" Luke asked, filled with a sudden, nervous energy.

Vader seemed to chuckle. _Patience, Skywalker_ he commanded, then continued _You will go back to your homeland of Tattoonie. Once there, you will seek out the former Jedi who has hidden there for many years. Face him in battle and defeat him._

"A Jedi on Tattoonie?" Luke said, automatically thinking of Obi-Wan. "All I have to do is kill him?"

_It will be harder then you may think_ Vader warned _This Jedi I once knew well. His name is Veri, and he was one of the most accomplished fighters I knew. But if you succeed you will be tied to the Dark Side._

Luke nodded, and waited for Vader to continue, but Vader's voice was silent, he had passed on his message and gone. "Kill a Jedi?" he asked himself, "Seems simple enough." Though, knowing Vader, there was sure to be some hidden trick.

Knowing that he should leave as soon as he could, Luke packed a small bag, and departed, looking for a ship. The Falcon had gone, as he had expected, but it was no less frustrating. To be stranded here, on this crowded city planet, incapable of completing his mission! Luke bit back a groan, and decided that if he couldn't have the Falcon, he might as well take any other, functional ship.

Not an easy task. The few landing spaces that he found were heavily armed, and most of the ships looked as though they couldn't handle lightspeed, never mind hyperspeed. Luke kept looking, even as the day grew darker, inching towards night.

After darkness had fallen, Luke finally caught a break. A sleek ship, in fine condition sat nestled in a low landing platform. The security was minimal, and Luke bounded from the ground to the landing platform.

He dodged the first round of blasterfire that came his way, jumping forward and pressing the open end of his lightsaber to the first guard's chest. He switched it on, and the guard moaned, then fell silent as a bright blue blade speared him through the heart. The next guards Luke killed simply enough. A decapitation here, internal damage there. The last he left alive, though missing an arm and part of a leg.

Luke gave a little laugh, admiring the scattered body parts and moans of pain coming from the living guard. Luke's lips turned up, and he walked up the ramp to the ship's entrance. Finally, Luke was on the way to truly becoming a Sith. He grinned brightly, and strode aboard, settling down into the cockpit chair. This was going to be fun.


	13. Chapter 13

Luke gestured to an orange-haired human, adding an extra pull with the Force. She walked over and eyed him warily.

"Yeah?"

Luke sent her relaxing emotions, and she loosened, her lips curling into a slight smile. "Do you live here?" he asked.

"All my life," she grinned, then paused, "Well, minus fifteen years."

"How long, exactly, have you lived here, then?"

She shrugged carelessly, "Three years, give or take a couple of months. Why?"

Luke ignored her question, "So you know you're way around?"

"Obviously."

"And the people? Are you familiar with them?"

"There are lots of people here." Her words would have sounded hostile if not for the wide smile still worn across her face.

Luke grimaced. "I understand. But I'm looking for someone. Can you help me find him?"

"That depends," she said, that cheerful grin still stubbornly attached to her lips. Her eyes, an unnerving shade of pale green, narrowed slightly as she continued, "Are you a bounty hunter? An Imperial or Rebel?" At bounty hunters, a swarm of unpleasant emotions wafted of her, she reeked of disdain and bad experiences.

"None of the above," Luke told her, half-lying, "My loyalties are only to myself."

Her smile widened, now looking slightly menacing, "Alright then," she allowed, "Tell me who he is, and I'll see what I can do." Her grin dropped to a small, pleased half-smile.

"Veri."

"That it?" she asked, "Doesn't seem like much to go on."

"I'm sorry. Do you know anyone by that name? Although I suppose he may be going by another name, now."

"I don't know any Veri. What does he look like?" she asked him, "His age? Is he human?"

Luke resisted biting his lip. "That's part of the problem," he said, "I don't know. I assume…." Luke trailed off, considering, "He'll probably be somewhere in his late thirties to his eighties."

Her eyes widened.

"And he might be a bit of a recluse," Luke finished. "I'm sorry," he apologized yet again, "The name is really all I have. And the gender, too."

"Very helpful. Why do you even need to find this guy, anyway? It doesn't seem like you know him, or anything about him, really."

Luke clenched his jaw in frustration. "What do you know?" he demanded angrily.

"Nothing. Sorry about your 'friend'." She paused. "Anything else?"

"One more thing," Luke said, and she waited for him to continue, "He was a Jedi, once."

Her lips parted, her eyes widening.

"You know him."

"Only rumors. I've heard that a man who was once a Jedi lived here, in this region of Tattoonie. But none of the rumors were ever confirmed."

"This region?" Luke mused, a grin springing to his lips. He was on the right track!

"Yeah. What do you need him for?" She gave of nothing but indifference and he decided to be honest with her.

"I'm going to kill him."

Surprisingly, she grinned. "Need any help?"

He appraised her. "How could you help me?" he asked, genuinely curious to hear what he response would be.

"I'm good with blasters," she said proudly, "On a couple wanted lists."

Well, that explained the dislike for bounty hunters.

"So anyway," she said, "Do you want my help? You'll probably need it, one man against a Jedi."

Luke forced down a laugh, and debated accepting her proposal. On one hand, she might slow him down, but on the other hand, her tone was truthful and sincere. He could always kill her if she proved useless. "Sure."

She smiled widely. "Nice."


	14. Chapter 14

"So," the girl, whose name he had discovered was Emi, began, "Is this your first time here on Tattoonie?"

Luke glanced at her. She was perched on a small table, her eyes wide and inquisitive, her mouth quirked into that slightly predatory smile that never seemed to leave her lips. "No." he responded shortly, and she shrugged.

A few seconds of silence, and he asked, blurting out his question with a vague sense of embarrassment, "Does it hurt? Smiling like that all the time?"

As expected, her grin only widened, and her eyes shone with innocent amusement, "Silly," she scolded playfully, "Only if you're faking it." She fell silent, her smile turning sweet.

Luke resisted rolling his eyes. She twitched, and plopped down into a sitting position, letting her feet swing in the air. She hummed a light tune, and then a louder one, glancing at him to check for a reaction. He ignored her. Her song ended in a crescendo, and she clamped her lips together, sighing. She whistled. Luke ceased all movement and closed his eyes, stretching out with the Force to check for the Jedi. But if he was nearby, he had hidden his presence well. Would Luke have to kill everyone on Tattoonie to find the Jedi? This was going to take him a lifetime.

A hollow drumbeat snapped him to the present, and he opened his eyes, finding Emi tapping her fingers against the table. She eyed him innocently. "Yes?" A grin played across her lips, flickering helplessly to life then replaced with mock-seriousness.

"Is this a game to you?" he snapped, frustrated.

She was unconcerned. "Well of course it is," she said with a hint of confusion, "Games are supposed to be fun. If you aren't having fun, then maybe you should pick another game to play."

"I like to win," Luke told her, his words hard and sharp, "Maybe you could try and understand that sentiment."

"Yes, well," she murmured, her smile small and distant, "Winning is fun, of course. But in this game you chose to play, someone loses." Her eyes turned intent, her smile sly, "The way I see it, Luke, you have three options. One" she stuck out a finger, "You continue to play this game without having any fun. Two" she added another finger, "You decided to enjoy the hunt, and if you end up losing, well, at least it won't have all been worthless. And three" her stare was piercing, and she added a third finger, "You leave the game, and play another. There are so many to pick from." Her eyes suddenly turned careless and fun-loving again, and she wiggled her fingers, before dropping them. She giggled slightly.

Luke frowned at her. Was she insane? Even as he watched, her smile appeared slightly demented, as she drew invisible words and pictures in the air with her fingers. But he knew there was more to her then met the eye. And she had been right, what she had said about games. Some of it had been nonsense… but he _had_ chosen to play this risky game, after all. At first it had been forced upon him, but he could have chosen to leave at any time. And when he had accepted Vader as his master, out of free will and nothing more, that had been nobody's choice but his. And he _could_ still choose to not play. Up until the moment he cut down Veri, he could still _not play_.

With a sigh, Luke rubbed his head. He was starting to think like Emi, now. She grinned at him, and he scowled. At least with Han and Leia, before the mess that had started to develop on Cloud City, he had at least been something resembling sane. And he had believed in what he was doing had been right. And now? What was right?

"Helping myself is right," he whispered. He drew his lightsaber and turned it on experimentally. The blue blade jumped into the air, reminding him of the power that the Sith and the darkside could grant him.

Emi stared at him. "That's such a pretty thing," she told him matter-of-factly, then paused, her eyes narrowing with calculation. "Are you a Jedi?" she asked, a dark edge entering her words. "You carry their weapon."

Luke withdrew the blade. "No," he responded, "I was, once."

"What are you then?" she grinned.

"Something else."

"Interesting," she said, sounding slightly bored. She yawned. "The Jedi, do you want to kill him, or shall I?" she asked sleepily.

"I will," Luke said, "If you like, you can kill anyone in between him and me."

She smiled, "That sounds real nice," she said, "It's been a while since I've had something to do. I'm glad we meet, Luke, I would have gone insane without the company."

"Seems like you already are," Luke muttered, and she flashed a bright smile in his direction.

"Were do we start looking for the Jedi?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "You know this part of the planet better than I do. What do you think?"

"We could start with the government office. See who's come into Tattoonie, and when. Check their records," she suggested.

"That's a good idea," Luke complimented, "Where is it?"

She jumped down, her feet lightly touching the floor. She bounced on the tips of her toes before settling down. "I could show you," she offered.

The government office in charge of immigrations had been a relatively small establishment, and easy enough to get into. With a few mind tricks, Luke had convinced the guards that they were Imperials, and were let in with astonishing speed.

Luke and Emi were left alone in the record room, which was relatively low tech, and stacked with written documents. However, it was fairly neat, and sorting through it gave them little trouble.

"Start with twenty-two to…"

"The past three years? The rumors had been going on since I got here, and probably longer."

Luke nodded. "Alright," he said.

The records showed that fifteen thousand persons had travelled to this part of Tattoonie during that time. Luke sat down, and Emi followed suit. He divided the documents in half, giving her one. "Eliminate anyone who moved off Tattoonie," he said, "And any women and young children. Anyone who arrived with family. Anyone with a serious criminal record. And especially anyone with the name of Veri, of course."

The work took them until sunset, and they had only sorted out a little over half of each of their respective records.

"Fun," Emi mumbled. He gave her a tired glare.

"How many would you estimate is left?" he asked.

"About… three thousand. You?"

"A little more than that. Alright, Vader said that Veri was one of the best fighters he had met. So he was probably at least a Jedi Knight. Take out anyone younger than twenty. And, then, anyone with a lengthy criminal record, too."

Surprisingly, this left them with only a handful, and Luke sighed in satisfaction, flipping through his remaining records. He stood, and reached out his hand for Emi. She pulled herself to her feet and handed him her records. The light, combined weight left him with a sense of giddy delight and nervous anticipation. "Well go through them manually," he decided, and Emi nodded.

"Sounds good," she told him with a grin.

Out of the twenty remaining records that he had smuggled out of the office, ten of the people were easy to find, and nothing out of the ordinary. Two more Emi herself was familiar with, former clients that Luke decided were certainly not Jedi. He tossed these twelve to the ground. "Alright," he told Emi, "We'll stick together. See if we can find this Jedi-" And then suddenly, with a feeling similar to electrocution, Luke's senses tingled, and he leapt automatically to the side as a orange lightsaber barely missed his head, cleaving a produce stand into two smoldering sections.

Luke grabbed his lightsaber and opened it, the blue blade offering illumination into the nighttime air, but he could not see where the attack had come from. He stretched out with the Force, but found nothing, and pulled back, turning to Emi.

"Do you see anything?" he asked.

Two large blasters were held in her hands, and she shook her head. Her mood was electric; she was equally afraid and excited. Her eyes scanned the market. Another attack, and Luke dodged, once again avoiding only by a hair. A figure appeared ahead of him, orange blade held in his hand.

The figure neared, and Luke could make out a frown creasing his brow. "You have the stench of the Sith all over you," the man said, "But I can tell you are also a Skywalker. Odd."

Luke paused. "You knew my father?" he asked.

"And your Master. Anakin was a good man. Vader was not. You pick your allies poorly, child."

Luke smirked, "You know nothing. Kill me if you can, I'll do the same to you."

The man shrugged. "Very well." His face relaxed, turning calm and serene, and he suddenly jumped forward, his blade outstretched.

Luke's blade met his in a clash of sound and light, before he jumped back. Veri went on the offense, his orange blade a violent storm as Luke tried desperately not to be ripped to shreds.

A flood of blaster bolts flashed through the air, aiming for Veri's back, and he wiped them aside, his blade forced to move from Luke's. Luke raised his free hand and unleashed a burst of blue lightning, hitting Veri in the chest, throwing him backwards. Luke rushed forward, spinning his blade through the air and chopping off Veri's hands. The man cried out in pain, and Luke grinned down at him, kicking out his legs.

Veri collapsed to the ground. He raised his head, staring up at Luke. "Why are you doing this?" he asked weakly, his voice rough with pain.

Luke paused, "Because," he said, his words pleasant and polite, "This is the game I've chosen to play."

In one swift movement of his arm, he decapitated Veri, and the man crumpled to the ground, his head rolling away from his body.

Luke snapped in the blade, and grinned. Power surged through his veins, energy crackling around him, almost palpable. Emi walked over to him. Her hand was pressed to her shoulder, and her trademark grin looked a bit like a grimace.

"Are you alright?" he asked, meaning it. Her help had been crucial in brining Veri down.

"Fine," she said, "One of the rebounded shots glanced off my arm. It's no big deal. Just hurts."

Luke pulled her hand off her arm. The wound wasn't serious, at least, he assumed it wasn't, but was a bright, angry shade of red that dripped blood. He prodded it, and she winced. "You'll be alright," he said, "But you should probably get that bandaged up." He turned to leave.

"Hey!" Emi called, "Where are you going?"

"Coruscant," he told her, "I've completed my mission."

She raced up, falling in step beside him. "Let me come," she pleaded, and Luke shrugged.

"Fine."


	15. Chapter 15

"So… your sister now hates you," Emi said thoughtfully, "But until a few days ago you didn't even know you had a sister."

"That's right." Luke was beginning to regret telling Emi this. But the ships hyperdrive engine had begun to glitch, forcing them to make short jumps only, and creating a lot of downtime.

"How does that make you feel?" Emi asked, and Luke turned to see her flash a goofy smile at him, before her face turned abruptly sober. "Seriously."

Luke shrugged. "It's a bit of a bother. I'd rather not kill her, but if she's left alive she's a threat. It'll be annoying watching my back all the time."

Emi rolled her eyes. "So watch her! I mean, you Jedi and Sith people can do stuff like that right? If she's your sister, it shouldn't be too hard. Can't you just… _think _at her or whatever?"

Luke frowned. "It isn't that simple. For all I know, she's millions of light-years away."

Emi grinned at him. "So? That Yoda you told me about could lift an X-wing with his mind. How is it any different? And what can it hurt? We're stuck here for three more jumps until we reach Corescant."

"You may have a point," Luke conceded. "I'll give it a try." It could be an advantage, he reasoned, and even if it didn't work, he could find solace in the fact that Leia probably wouldn't be able to find _him._

He settled into a comfortable position and closed his eyes, breathing deeply in and out. Emi was blissfully silent, and his heartbeat slowed, his mind beginning to wander. He stretched outwards with the Force, searching for Leia. His pulse dropped further.

Think of Leia, he coaxed himself, find Leia.

And there she was.

Her hair was tied back, pulled from her face, which shone faintly with sweat. Her eyes were bright and intent, her clothes loose and flexible. In one hand she held an unlit lightsaber; the other was stretched in front of her. Luke didn't recognize the planet, it was a rich green with a bluish atmosphere, it could have been any number of places. Lando was there too, he reclined against a tree, watching Leia warily.

Leia took a deep breath in and then exhaled, shooting Lando a slight grin. "You feel nervous," she told him, and he shrugged.

"Do you really want to go through with this?" Lando asked, "Those documents you discovered, well, they're not really much to go on."

"Don't worry," Leia said softly, "This'll work. I can feel it working already. It's like a hum in my bones. It sings to me."

"Leia… listen to yourself. You can't take down the Empire with… a hum. You'll just get yourself killed." He pushed himself off the tree and straightened, "I don't want you to o out the same way Han did," Lando said quietly, "Executed as a traitor."

Leia flinched, but her next words were firm and hard-edged. "I will kill them all if I have to."

"And Luke?" Lando asked, his voice revealing his concern, "Will you really kill him? He's your brother."

Leia ignited her lightsaber, a burst of green cutting through the air. "If he sides with the Empire, he will die at my hand."

Luke returned to his body, gasping in air as quickly as he could. He was drenched in sweat and exhausted. More than that, he was afraid. Leia had been telling the truth when she said she would kill him, and as much as he tried to deny it, the resolve in her voice had terrified him.

Emi rushed forward. "Luke?" she asked, "What's wrong."

"It's Leia…" Luke began. "She…."

"Said she'd kill you?" Emi guessed. "Decapitated mini-Luke's?"

He sucked in a breath of air and glared at her. "Not that latter."

"But the former. Hm. Kill her first."

Luke stared at her, and she gave a huge grin.

"Did you forget what I do, Luke? Don't be alarmed. She may be your sister, but right now she's just-"

"An enemy," Luke interrupted, "Yes I know."

Emi nodded. "It would only be logical to kill her before she can do the same to you. Tell me Luke, do you want her to kill you?"

"Of course not," Luke said, "You're right, Emi. Its only logical. If she faces me in combat I'll offer her the best thing I can. The path to the dark side. It's the least I can do for my sister and twin. If she refuses, I'll cut her down."

Emi leaned over and hugged him. "I love it when you talk that way," she hissed into his ear.


	16. Chapter 16

The ship eventually arrived in the murky Coruscant atmosphere, and Luke had never been happier to see the polluted, distended gray sky in his life. The last leg of the journey had been rough, and Luke had begun to fear they wouldn't make it at all- either the ship would lie stranded in the middle of nowhere, or they would crash into a planet in the Outer Rim. Even Emi, usually careless and relaxed, had grown anxious, and though she didn't display any outwards signs of it, she had taken to sleeping as much as possible. Dream-wrapped denial, Luke figured.

She wasn't sleeping now. She was wide awake, albeit with shadowed eyes and a perpetual yawn that had replaced her grin, standing beside Luke, her face pressed close to the viewscreen. She sighed.

"I love it. Haven't seen it for years, but… I love it." Another sigh, this one melancholy, "Man, Tattoonie was miserable, awfully hot, but I think I'll miss it. Weird, right?"

Luke nodded. He understood better then she would have guessed. "No," he replied, and he noted with a detached sense of irritation that there was a trace of sadness in it that wouldn't go, "It's not weird. It makes sense."

"In a weird way," Emi shot back, but her voice seemed far away, and oddly devoid of her usual cheerfulness that tended to border on a threat. The ship sunk below the clouds, until the tips of Coruscant's colossal towers and buildings became visible. The ship continued to approach, and Luke was able to see the rainbow of hovercars and ships that flooded the skyline. Even closer now, the ship was making its final descent, and Luke could now see the passengers of the ships, each one glowing with energy.

He closed his eyes, breathing it in. A rush of envy. A hovercar filled with families, the young ones filled with bright, innocent emotions, the adults either nervous or annoyed. Here, a man fueled by lust, a woman consumed with apprehension. And two men, one human and one alien, both with murder in their hearts. Luke opened his eyes, grinning as a rush of kinship flushed through him, and he nodded slightly to the men as their hovercar flashed past his ship. One noticed him, and the expression that crossed his face and mind went by too fast to catch.

"Something amusing?" Emi asked him, and then winced as the ship made a nerve-jolting plunge downwards, spiraling towards a cold black landing platform attached to an unmistakably Imperial building.

She made an odd sound in her throat, the mix of a growl and a hiss of displeasure. "Imperial?" she asked darkly.

He glanced at her, shooting her a frown. "You know who I'm working for," he told her, and she shrugged.

"I do," she said, her voice losing its edge, and becoming neutral, "But I never really-" she broke off, and paused before continuing, "You once said that you were loyal to none but yourself," she said, making her statement a question. The ship hit the landing platform, and the exit ramp began to open.

Luke examined her, "I told you the truth," he said, "I serve myself, and my loyalty is my own. And, in part, that is exactly why I give Vader my loyalty."

"You give him loyalty to help yourself?" she asked, and then broke into a wide smile that Luke realized he had started to miss. "Interesting."

The ramp hit the ground with a dull thud, and Luke made his way down it, gesturing for Emi to follow. After a moment's hesitation, she did, chasing after him. The ramp withdrew back into the ship, and Luke looked around, noting the white, armored lines of stormtroopers stationed around the platform. He brushed against their minds, and felt a dizzying variety of emotions below the blank masks. Boredom, rage, commitment, fear. The fear grew, and Luke realized it was directed towards him, and he savored it, basking in it for as long as he could get away with. He locked eyes with the fearful trooper, and considered blasting him backwards, or electrocuting him, doing something to the man to invoke the same fear in the hearts of the other troopers. Emi tapped his arm, and he sighed, and began to make his way to the entrance of the building.

The troopers did not block him, apart from to inform him that his Master, Vader, was waiting for him, directing him towards the area where he was supposed to meet him. They asked him what the girl was doing with him, and Luke ignored them, they did not ask any more questions.

It was more interesting inside the building. The stormtroopers here were too disciplined to halt as he walked past, or ask him his purpose. It was likely they had been debrief on his arrival. The officers and politicians, however, did not display the same level of restraint. Their emotions ranged between shock and panic, their bodies sometimes froze mid-step, or rushed past him. Many of their eyes widened, some were even foolish enough to try and stop him. Only one actually. An officer had grabbed her blaster. Luke had drawn his lightsaber to cut off the woman's head, but Emi had been quicker. She fired quickly, hitting the woman in the chest, spinning her backwards before she plummeted to the ground. Emi silently replaced her blaster, and frowned slightly at the woman, jumping over her body as they continued down the hallway.

At last, they reached the room. Luke could feel Vader before he opened the door, the man reeked of power and violence earned from years of murder and practice in the arts of the Sith. He knew that Vader could feel him too, and wondered what Vader sensed. Surely he knew that Luke had completed the task Vader had given him, could he sense the Dark Side in him?

Emi yanked open the doors, dancing inside before Luke could stop her. He followed, slightly reluctantly, trailing behind her.

Vader faced him. "My apprentice," he greeted, and Luke returned:

"My Master."

"Congratulations," Vader said, and Luke was sure that behind his dark mask, the man was grinning, "You have done well. You killed Veri."

"Thank you."

Vader stepped forward, "The real test wasn't to see if you could defeat Veri," he confided, "But rather to see if you would kill him."

"I did." Luke remembered how his blade, blue and lovely, had in one swift motion, separated Veri's head from the rest of his body.

"And now you are truly a Sith."

A hot rush of elation raced through Luke, sending delicious emotions down his spine. But Vader was not finished.

"And who is this?" he asked, and Luke detected a chill in Vader.

"Emi," Luke said without further elaboration, and Emi nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Vader asked her, and she drew back.

She was afraid; Luke could sense it, raw and fresh. But she pinned a grin to her mouth, and her voice did not waver. "I'm with Luke," she said lightly, "He's quite fun."

"She helped me kill Veri," Luke said, "She provided the distraction needed for me to defeat him."

"Did she?" Vader asked, and then suddenly Luke felt a cold, calculated amusement come from him. "Very well."


	17. Chapter 17

A.N. Hey, quick question, do any of you want Leia to kill Luke? Or vise versa?

Luke was searching for Leia again, and this time it had been his idea. For some reason, unknown even to him, he had begun to feel a cold chill in the back of his mind, an intangible worry that seemed to press against his every thought. He couldn't identity what, precisely, it was, but deep in his gut he was sure Leia was the source. He expanded his mind, reached out and feeling for his sister and twin in much the same way he had on the spaceship with Emi. However, he found her much sooner, and with a much greater ease then he had then, and that may have been a positive thing, aside from the fact that this meant Leia was that much closer to him. He hated to admit it, even to him, but his fear of her was gradually increasing. And now, she was on Coruscant.

Leia stalked through the cool night, Lando to her left. Luke couldn't name their location, it could have been any number of places in the city that spanned a planet. Her emotions were that of controlled rage, he felt her trying to wrap a veil of calm serenity around her emotions, and only half-succeeded. Luke took this happily- her inability to rid herself fully of her anger, and anger that was unconsciously being nursed into hate, told him there was hope for her yet. She could be tempted to join the Dark Side.

Leia's mood was sour, and her next words revealed her thoughts were entrenched in the same subjects as the last time he had spied on her. "He's here, Lando," she said darkly.

"How do you know?" Lando asked. He sounded tired, and there was more than a little annoyance in his voice.

Leia shot him a glance, "I can feel him," she said, then added with less certainty, "I can't explain it, exactly. But I… can almost trace his essence to the place. This region."

Lando hesitated, as if he were about to tell her something he'd rather not her hear, and then finally said, "This _is_ Empire territory, Leia. It wouldn't be unusual. If Luke is really working for Vader, as you said, then it would make sense for him to come here."

Leia's eyes sparkled unpleasantly, "Yes," she breathed, "Yes that would make sense. And, if Luke is here, it should be no trouble at all to find him. He'd be with Vader."

Lando nodded, "It wouldn't be hard to find him," he said, "Can you use those mind-tricks of yours?"

Leia frowned, a slight, barely noticeable expression, before she quickly said, "Of course."

"So all we really have to do is find some stormtroopers. Then make one of them tell you everything he knows. Easy enough."

"Easy enough," Leia echoed, and then gave a sudden smile, raising her gaze to look at the huge tower up above, black and Imperial. The sight of it sent chills down Luke's spine- _he was in there, even as she stared at it_. He imagined that Leia could see him, and that thought was nearly enough for him to break out of his trance and grab his lightsaber, send the stormtroopers to kill her, or hunt her down himself. Almost. He restrained himself, and focused on her instead.

Leia began to scan the street, and after five minutes of blocking traffic, her gaze finally rested on a stormtrooper. She began to walk over to him.

"Are you insane?" Lando hissed at her, "What are you doing, Leia? We can't go to every stormtrooper that passes through this part of town."

"Not everyone," she agreed, "But this one has Luke's stench all over him." With a flood of dismay, Luke recognized the markings on his armor, the same trooper who he had singled out for his fear.

Although Luke knew Leia had been drilled in the arts of diplomacy and subterfuge from an early age, she did not opt for subtly, rather, roughly grabbed the trooper by the arm, and pulled him to face her. Before the man could respond, Luke felt her enter his mind, lulling him into an artificial calm.

"Do you know Luke Skywalker?" she asked him, her voice soft and almost gentle, if not for the hard edge hidden deep below.

The troopers face was obscured by his mask, but his next words lacked any expression or emotion, "Yes," he said blankly.

Leia allowed herself a triumphant grin, before returning to the trooper, "How?"

"He arrived not long ago."

"And you didn't stop him?"

"We were given strict orders not to. We were to direct him to Vader."

"Why Vader?"

"Not part of the information we were given."

Leia paused, "What was the information you were given? All of it."

"It was simple. We were to direct Skywalker to Vader. We did not stop him. Or his friend, but there were no prior orders concerning her."

Leia paused again, "Friend?" she queried, "Tell me about her."

"Human. And female," the trooper recited, "Small in stature, young, short red hair. Armed."

"With blasters?"

"Yes."

"Do you know her name?"

"No," the trooper said shortly, and Leia sighed.

"Very well," she said, and furrowed her brow as she concentrated harder, "You will forget meeting me." Leia smirked, and looked again at the Imperial tower that Luke was within.

Luke snapped himself away from her, and sat up quickly, his hand resting lightly on the top of his lightsaber, in an attempt to reassure himself. Leia was coming for him. Probably this very minute. He estimated that she would arrive in no less than an hour. Of course, he could delay her with troopers and the like, but he would rather be done with it. She would try to kill him, and he would try to kill her. Simple as that. If she survived, perhaps he would try and entice her with the Dark Side, however small the chance that she would accept his proposal was. He closed his eyes, and focused on strengthening himself, in the little time he had available. He saw no use in rushing to face her, and instead decided to wait until she found him. Not one of his better strategies, perhaps, but probably one of the safer options.

He waited. And waited. Finally, after what seemed like years, but was, in actuality probably no longer then a few hours, he grew impatient, and concerned. Where was she? Had he misread the intent and determination on her before? Was she biding her time? He stretched out with his senses, and found that she was in fact in the building, quite close. But she wasn't looking for him. She had already found her target.

"Vader," Luke gasped, and took off down the long, silver halls of the building, racing towards Leia and Vader. He used the Force to increase his speed, and, as such, nearly crashed into Emi, who was standing in the middle of the hallway. He skidded to a halt and grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing here?"

She frowned, "What are you?"

He shook his head, and glanced down to check for her blasters. "Come with me," he ordered, and she shrugged, following him as he ran down the length of the hallway, finally arriving at the entrance to Vader's quarters. He used the Force to slam open the door, and both he and Emi froze when they saw what was happening in front of them.

Vader and Leia were engaged in a violent duel, their blades clashing with bright flashes of light and enormous sound. Hers was a lethal shaft of emerald, his, a bloody tool of murder. Vader shoved her away, and she flew backwards, hitting the wall with a brutal crunch. She fell forwards, and went limp. Vader turned to Luke, and asked "Do you want to kill her, or shall I deal the final blow?"

Luke glanced at Leia, who seemed to be either dead or comatose. Her eyes were closed, and her skin looked pale. Vader stepped forward, and raised his crimson blade above her head. "If you do not," he rasped, "I will." His blade crashed down towards Leia, and Luke watched, waiting for it to make contact with her flesh. It did not. At the last second, Leia's eyes snapped open with such speed he knew she had been only playing before. Her blade flashed through the air, meeting Vader's hands and slicing them off at the wrists. It fell to the floor at the same time she jumped up, placing the tip of her blade on the control panel on Vader's chest.

_Skywalker_ Vader told Luke, silently commanding him to assist his Master. When Luke didn't move, he said out loud, in a low, raspy hiss, "I showed you the path of the Sith."

Luke locked gaze with Leia, and remembered her promise to him. She would strike him down, but only if he stood in her way. He glanced at Emi, who wore an amused half-smile on her face, that widened as she looked at him. She would support him no matter what he chose. He was playing the game he picked, as she had once recommended. He looked at Vader, his Master, who had indeed showed him the path to the Sith. "There can only be two," he recited apathetically, and nodded to Leia.

Rage poured out of Vader, rage that was quickly cut off when Leia decapitated him. His helmeted head rolled from his neck and fell to the ground. He ignored it, and looked at Leia, who shot him an unreadable look, then darted past him, and vanished.


	18. Chapter 18

A.N. Thx for the reviews. And another question- what do you think is up with Emi?

A brief moment of silence that felt like a frigid millennium. He looked down at his unlit lightsaber, resting innocently against his hip, clean and unstained with the blood it had help in splitting, by the simple ease of inaction.

"What have I done?" he whispered, and those little, horrified words cut away the last vestiges of denial or self-control, the weight of his actions crashing down towards him. They crushed him, and then smothered him, a rough blanket that seemed to have been spun by the old Luke, the Luke he thought dead. It wrapped around his mouth and throat, murmuring in his ear that his actions had doomed him. He was not a Sith, without Vader he would never be, and now would not be a Jedi either, or anything even remotely resembling that. The blanket's grip increased, its soft voice growing into a piercing shriek that he tried to mirror with his own voice, but could not. The blanket was choking off his air, and he could not get a word through his lips.

"What have you done?" a voice from behind him mused, "What _have _you done, then?"

Luke turned to Emi, unsurprised by the smile that flashed across her face, and left an echo on her lips. Pleasant malice rolled off her in gentle waves, and the familiarity of it soaked through the blanket, which grew heavier, the words harder to make out, before falling away from him. He blinked. "What?"

Emi approached him with mock-timidity, and placed a hand over his wrist, letting it hover in the air. Her face was open and tranquil, but Luke could make out a cold spark in her eyes. "Tell me," she ordered, her voice unusually emotionless. Her eyes bored into his own, daring him to stay quiet.

"I kill Darth Vader," Luke told her clinically, his voice devoid of the panic that strained to break through.

"Did you?" Emi asked, "I thought Leia did."

"I allowed her to kill him," Luke said, "I stood by and watched. I practically asked her to kill him."

Emi nodded, her eyes still locked on his. "Yes," she agreed, "Why?"

Luke started, and she repeated the question.

"Why?" Another pause, and her eyes glinted. "Why did you want him to die? I thought you needed him?"

Luke shook his head, still trying to puzzle it out for himself. "I didn't need him," he said slowly, "Not anymore. He'd done his part, showing me what I was capable of doing. But there can only be two. If I wanted… the power he once offered me I had to kill him."

Emi smiled, a fierce, wide grin. "Do you still want it?"

Luke stared at her, and breathed, "Yes." He froze, once again horrified, and let his face fall into his hands. "What have I done?" he asked again, not asking anymore, but merely letting it all replay for himself.

He felt Emi's hands on his face, and let her pull him away from his hands, looking at her. Almost tenderly, though with a small smirk on her face, she lowered her hands and took out his lightsaber, letting it rest in her palms.

"You have done everything the Emperor expected of you," she said.

To stunned for words, Luke merely gaped.

"Did you think meeting me was an accident, Luke?" she asked him, "Did you think finding him was really as simple as looking through a few records? It was set up, Luke. The Emperor noticed your potential, and tested you. This," she gestured around her with the hand holding his lightsaber, and Luke followed her motions, seeing the cracked wall, a trace of Leia's blood, Vader's decapitated body. "This was its result." She smiled up at him, and he was surprised to see that her smile still remained the same, and with a detached sense of amusement, chided himself for thinking that she would suddenly be a stranger to him. She had always been a stranger to him. There was no difference. "You did wonderfully," she said.

"I should kill you," Luke told her apathetically, and she nodded, taking his hands and wrapping them around his lightsaber, raising it to her throat and letting go, leaving the open end of the blade pressing lightly against the hollow of her throat. She smiled.

"Go ahead," she offered.

Luke considered it. He hesitated, his finger touching the ignition button on his lightsaber, before letting it fall. He lowered his hand and returned the lightsaber to its former position on his hip.

"Thank you," Emi told him, "And well done." Another gesture around to further reveal the crime. She grinned again, filled with such infuriating, bittersweet familiarity, and then said, "We have work to do."


	19. Chapter 19

A.N. Who do you think Emi really is? I'm curious to see some of your theories. And honestly, I haven't quite figured it out myself! XD

The ship, new and a sleek shade of silvery chrome, raced through the thick, Coruscant atmosphere, breaking through clouds and smog with a contemptuous ease. The inside of the ship was sparse and lacking in much furnishings besides the basics. The ship was set to automatic, due to make the jump to hyperspeed in a few short minutes, when they were a good few miles from the outer atmosphere of the city-planet, but the cockpit boasted the largest room in the ship, so that was where Luke had decided to stay.

Unfortunately for him, Emi had chosen to follow him into the cockpit, and was seated at an uncomfortably close distance away from him, pretending to ignore him, and humming loudly to herself. The arm of her shirt brushed against his jacket, and he resisted the urge to automatically pull back from the strange being he had once thought of as a friend.

He flinched as she drew closer, and fought back his desire to run away, open an escape hatch and dive into the cold expanse of space that was now surrounding their ship. Black dotted with bright spots of stars and the distant sheen of planets and comets, it reminded Luke of his earlier days, flying alongside Han and Leia. An aggravating twinge of nostalgia shot through him, and he shook his head to clear it and glanced to his left, examining his current companion.

Emi, orange hair and off-color eyes, wide grin and dark secrets. He tried to hate her, to muster up emotions stronger and colder then anger, but failed. Somehow, despite her glaring deception, he bore her no particular ill-will, or the want to end her life. He sighed miserably, and she smiled sweetly at him, but did not speak.

"Who are you?" he asked at last.

She licked her lips and gave a slow smile, "Emi."

"You work for the Emperor."

"I do. Do you want to know why?"

Luke shrugged, and avoided eye contact. She remained silent, and he realized she was looking for a definitive answer. He stared into her eyes and said at last, "Yes."

She grinned. "No reason. I'm good at what I do, and when I get an interesting job offer from people I really can't refuse- I don't. And it's been worth it. Is that all?"

"Was everything you did a lie?" Luke asked her, and her grin widened.

"Of course not," she said, "Who says I lied?" She bit her lip, a faintly puzzled, sheepish expression of childlike innocence crossing her face and amended, "Well… I didn't lie much. Only as it pertained to my work, mostly." She pushed against Luke and gave him a playful kiss, "Silly. Am I a stranger to you?"

"No," Luke said, "Not a stranger."

"Then what?"

Luke grinned at her, with dawning realization, "A player. Playing the game you chose."

She nodded at him, her smile pleased and proud, "Good job," she complimented.

Luke glanced at the viewport, and frowned as the ship rocked back, preparing for hyperspeed. "Where are we going?" he asked.

Emi grinned teasingly, and pressed her head against his chest. "Tell you when we get there."


	20. Chapter 20

A.N. Wow, this one is pretty short. Anyway, thank you for all the comments! This is also the last chapter of this story. Thx for sticking with it this far! XD

Leia's stare was a hard as flint, her mouth pressed together in a firm line. Luke reached out, a cautious probe, the merest brush against her mind, and felt both her determination and contained fury, along with a deep, hollow sadness that she would not allow herself to show. He pulled back, and turned to Emi.

"What is this?" he asked her, and she shrugged, orange spikes bouncing up and down.

"Tracking your sister was easy," she told him, "Since she did us the favor of killing Vader on Empire land." Emi turned and grinned tauntingly at Leia, who returned the look with an expression of cool disdain. Emi scowled, and then smiled at Luke. "Kill her," she said casually, and then retreated a few steps back, leaving Luke facing his sister.

"You still serve the Empire," Leia said mournfully, "I see I have no choice, then." She summoned her lightsaber to her hand and ignited the blade. A line of bright jade jumped from her hand, and then angled towards Luke, tip pointing towards his neck.

"And you are still my enemy," Luke retorted, "You don't have to be. Join me. Open yourself up to the dark side and bask in its power."

Leia shook her head with clear regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Luke," she whispered.

Luke snarled, and pulled his weapon to his hand, activating the blade. The moment the pale, azure shaft touched the air, he leapt forward, spinning his blade around and aiming for her head. She ducked, seemingly unsurprised by his sudden murderous intent, and blocked his next strike with the base of her blade, then pulled back and shoved at him with the Force.

He jumped up, missing the blow by a fraction of a degree, and then hit the ground, rolling up and shocking her with a blast of Force lightning. She groaned, and he raced forward eagerly, prepared to kill her despite the fact they were twins and former comrades, raising his lightsaber to cleave her in two. Incredibly, she managed to avoid the attack, and stood up, her blade a bright circle as she batted back blow after blow.

Luke kicked out her legs and made an upward cut that she deflected, giving him an insignificant, but painful, wound across his forearm. He growled in anger, drawing on the power of the dark side, letting it feed fuel to the fire of his anger. He attacked Leia brutally, and she fell back, but still managed to keep his blade from her body.

"You won't win this battle, Luke," she panted, and he gave her a savage grin.

"You sound like Obi-Wan," he told her, tearing his blade from hers and smashing the hilt into her stomach. Leia dropped her weapon, and fell to the ground coughing and gasping for air. "I hated him." Luke approached, ready for this to be over with. He had loved her once, and he still did, in a way, but she was simply too much trouble alive. He raised his lightsaber at the same time she reached for hers, drawing it into her hand and reactivating it, narrowly blocking Luke's strike. The blades clashed, and Leia kicked back, Luke's blade hitting the ground where his sister had been a second before. Leia jumped up, her blade up and ready, a fine layer of sweat coating her skin.

Her eyes were calm and her expression one of remorseful tranquility as she appraised her brother, who also raised his blade, baring his teeth, yellow eyes blazing with hot hatred. "I'm sorry, Luke," she said, and then closed her eyes for a brief moment.

Luke, sensing an opening, leapt forward, his blade a blur of color. And then he stopped suddenly, horrified shock spreading across his face. He dropped his lightsaber, and then stared down in disbelief at the emerald blade that had went cleanly through his stomach, exiting at the other side.

"Luke!" he heard Emi cry from behind him, her voice sounding faint and distant. Leia raised her hand, and Emi's voice was cut off. Leia tossed her free hand to the side, and there was a vague thump, accompanied by a sharp snap indicative of a broken neck.

"Emi?" he asked hoarsely and Leia eyed him.

"Dead."

Luke drew back his lips from his teeth, his eyes shining with yellow rage. "I hate you."

Leia nodded sadly, "Yes, I know."

She pulled her lightsaber from his body and snapped it shut. Luke groaned and fell to the ground.

"What are you going to do now?" Luke asked her. Blood trickled down over his lips, but he seemed to be past noticing.

Leia stared at him, eyes wet. "Take down the Empire, like I told you I would," she said, her voice low but steady.

Luke glared at her with baleful eyes, and then moaned, a sound that was quickly replaced by a gurgle. His eyes dulled, and his muscles slacked. Leia reached out to his body, but could no longer feel him in the Force. She sighed, and then bent down, closing his eyes.


	21. Epilogue

Leia burned Luke's body, and watched as the fires ate away at his clothes and skin. She felt tears itching at the back of her eyes, desperately trying to leave, but she refused to let them. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and picked up Luke's lightsaber from the ground, throwing it in the fire as well. The Empire had turned her brother into a monster, and she swore to never forgive them. Sparks from the fire jumped into the night sky, almost resembling the distant stars in the sky as they raced into the air. She looked back at the roaring flames, and watched as the rest of Luke's face melted away. Finally, a lone tear escaped, trickling down her cheek and falling gently onto the ground. Then she quickly turned, walking briskly toward his ship. She would waste no time in fulfilling her promise. The Empire would die by her hands. She marched toward the ramp, the flames from the funeral pyre hot against her back, burning behind her, and then fading to nothing.


End file.
